Jean boueby



(No Model.)

PIANO FRAME.

No. 322,154. Patented July 14, 1885-.

'W'vmesse s; I 1111 611750 1". @207 v Jean Bow-1y. Y B5 Kim UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEAN BOURRY, OF ZURICH, SWVITZERLAND.

PlANO-FRAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,154,6iated July14-, 1885.

Application filed October .20, 1884. (N0 model.) Patented in FranceJanuary 21, 1884, No. 159,840, and in Germany January 25, 1884,18'0.28,492.

T0 on whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, JEAN BOURRY, a citizen of Switzerland, residing atZurich, in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in the Iron Frames of Upright and Grand Pianos,(patented to me in France, No. 159,840, dated January 21, 1884, and inGermany, No. 28,492, dated January 25, 1884;) and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention isto remove the st ay s or struts placedbefore or upon the sounding-board, and connected with the iron frame ofupright and grand pianos, which stays have to oppose the necessaryresistance to the strain or tension of the strings, but impede thedevelopment of the sound. In the construction shown by the annexeddrawings, the strain or tension of the strings is counterbalanced bystrong wires behind or below the soundingboard, leaving it free from anyobstruct-ions on the side of the strings, and the construction allows ofa considerable reduction in the weight of the frame.

Figure 1 represents the front View of the frame, and Fig. 2 the profile.

a and Z) are the string rails of an upright cross-stringed piano. 0 isthe sou nding-board;

d, the cross-section of the upper part of the bridge. The T-shaped stayse, of which a crosssection is shown atf, have projections or lugs g g atthe back of their extremities, with a hole admittingiron or steeltruss-wires,which can be ti ghtencd by the nuts 70 7c k". The

wooden saddles i i, over which the trusswires are bent, compensate thestrain of fleXion on the stays 6 produced by the tension of the strings.The distance between the stays c and the wires on one side and thestrings on the other being equal, the tension is equivalent on bothsides of the frame. The sounding-board is fitted in the grooves h h h ofthe frame.

I am aware that Letters Patent for improvements in pianos have beenissued to Martin, No. 57,743, dated September 4, 1866, and to F.Mathushek, No. 113,073, dated March 28, 1871. I therefore do not claimanything as shown or described by them.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A piano-forte frame having the stays c, with the projections or lugson the back thereof at or near their ends and in line therewith,together with the truss -wires stretched between said projectious orlugs, and one or more saddles interposed between the truss-wires and thestays, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. Apiauo-forte frame consisting of a skeleton cast-iron framehavingcross ribs or stays and perforated lugs or projections on the back sideof the frame at the ends of the ribs, .together with truss-wiresstretched between the lugs, and one or more saddles interposed betweenthe ribs and truss-wires, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JEAN BOURRY. I

Witnesses:

JULIUs A. BoURRY, ED. EGLI. 1

